The Hidden Cost of Colour in Design

Colour carries meaning - instructions, safety signals, learning cues and buying decisions. But, if we rely on colour alone, millions of people can’t access the message or feel the emotion behind it.

This fast-paced, visual seminar shows what colour blindness looks like, where it causes real-world errors and the simple design fixes that will work everywhere.

Colour isn’t merely decoration, it’s information too. We use it to teach, to warn, to guide, to sell and to signal status. However, for people with colour blindness (colour vision deficiency), some of that information can be lost.

Colour blindness affects around 300 million people worldwide (including learners, employees and customers). Yet it remains one of the most overlooked accessibility issues - even though the fixes are often simple, low-cost and improve clarity (and often safety) for everyone.

In this talk, we’ll bring together lived experience, practical design examples and a short, accessible explainer on how colour vision works to show:

• Where colour-only design fails in education, branding/marketing, product/UX and safety-critical environments
• What “colour blindness” really means (and it’s not just about red and green)
• How to design so the message survives and thrives

You’ll leave with a straightforward set of principles and quick wins you can apply immediately - whether you create learning materials, dashboards, products, signage, comms, presentations, maps, charts, or safety information.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Colour Collective UK